Carney: Russia-Led Diplomatic Solution Will Be Taken Before Any Military Action

Carney: We Will Need Russia's 'Help' with Chemical Weapons in Syria (RealClearPolitics)

JAY CARNEY: Susan Rice’s comments and Secretary Kerry’s comments reflected the reality that we dealt with as a nation when it came to Russia’s disposition on this matter. Private conversations are one thing, but it wasn't until Foreign Minister Lavrov explicitly and publicly put together a proposal to act on the need to secure Syria’s chemical weapons, to remove them from Assad’s control, to place them under international control, and ultimately destroy them, that that avenue was opened. Because prior to that, based on past experience, there was not a lot of optimism about resolving this diplomatically with Russia's help, given the role Russia had played  in the past. Now, Russia has made this proposal. Russia is engaging with the United States and other members of the U.N. Security Council and other participants in this process, and we will see where it leads.